Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS) Sees Large Decline in Short Interest

Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest in the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 10,000,000 shares, a drop of 30.8% from the November 15th total of 14,460,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 672,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 14.9 days.

Fortis Price Performance

NYSE FTS traded down $0.02 on Friday, hitting $42.30. 306,240 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 710,871. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $44.12 and a 200-day moving average of $42.67. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. Fortis has a 52 week low of $36.86 and a 52 week high of $46.06. The stock has a market cap of $21.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.82, a P/E/G ratio of 3.93 and a beta of 0.49.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The utilities provider reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.26. Fortis had a return on equity of 7.01% and a net margin of 14.06%. The company had revenue of $2.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.01 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.63 EPS. Analysts expect that Fortis will post 2.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Fortis Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be given a dividend of $0.4382 per share. This represents a $1.75 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. Fortis’s dividend payout ratio is currently 76.47%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on FTS. Bank of America assumed coverage on Fortis in a report on Friday, September 20th. They set an “underperform” rating on the stock. UBS Group raised Fortis to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Raymond James downgraded Fortis from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of FTS. Toronto Dominion Bank raised its position in Fortis by 26.9% during the 2nd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 9,071,484 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $352,336,000 after purchasing an additional 1,920,728 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI grew its holdings in Fortis by 21.8% during the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 5,190,336 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $235,839,000 after acquiring an additional 930,331 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its holdings in Fortis by 31.4% during the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 2,142,695 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $83,259,000 after acquiring an additional 512,103 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. grew its holdings in Fortis by 15.7% during the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 3,747,036 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $170,230,000 after acquiring an additional 507,068 shares during the period. Finally, Point72 Europe London LLP grew its holdings in Fortis by 413.6% during the 3rd quarter. Point72 Europe London LLP now owns 395,474 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $17,973,000 after acquiring an additional 318,474 shares during the period. 57.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Fortis Company Profile

Fortis Inc operates as an electric and gas utility company in Canada, the United States, and the Caribbean countries. It generates, transmits, and distributes electricity to approximately 447,000 retail customers in southeastern Arizona; and 103,000 retail customers in Arizona's Mohave and Santa Cruz counties with an aggregate capacity of 3,408 megawatts (MW), including 68 MW of solar capacity and 250 MV of wind capacity.